Premier Wu Den-yih, who formerly served as KMT's secretary general, said yesterday that local “three-in-one elections” should not be seen as a mid-term test for the performance of President Ma Ying-jeou, but can be regarded as a major test after Ma retook the chairmanship of the ruling party.

Eligible voters in 17 of Taiwan's 25 cities and counties will elect mayors and magistrates, city and county councilors, and city and township heads in uncoming elections.

Seven other cities and counties — Taipei County, Taichung City and County, Tainan City and County, Kaohsiung City and County — will be upgraded or merged into municipalities and hold elections for local leaders along with Taipei City next year.

When campaigning for KMT candidates in Keelung City and in eastern Hualien County, Wu conceded that the party's candidates in some areas are threatened by major splits among supporters as some former party members insisted on staying in the race even after they lost primaries for nomination and were expelled from the party.

The KMT is facing tough battles in Hualien, Yilan, Hsinchu, Chiayi and Pingtung counties.

President Ma made use of the weekly holidays to lead members of the Central Standing Committee to Hualien to drum up support for Tu Lih-hua, a senior advisor at the Hualien county government, who defeated former Department of Health Minister Yeh Ching-chuan in the party's primaries.

Although Hualien has long been a stronghold for the KMT, Tu is facing ruthless challenge from veteran KMT lawmaker Fu Kun-chi.

Fu, who switched to the KMT from the now much weakening People First Party, was banned from the KMT primaries mainly because he has been convicted of insider trading and a separate scam. He is still appealing the sentences to imprisonment.

Ma said Tu has maintained impeccable records in her public career, representing the KMT's determination to uphold the principles of no corruption, righteousness and diligence.

After serving for years in the county government, Tu has been promoting “agriculture without poison and contamination.”

Ma compares Tu's integrity to her current contributions to cultivate healthy farm produce for people.

Without mentioning Fu's name, Ma told supporters that it is impossible for his party to endorse candidates embroidered in lawsuits.

But Ma cited Yeh as an outstanding example for fair play and promoting solidarity. Despite his loss to Tu in the primaries, Yeh honored his promise of providing the maximum assistance by serving as her campaign manager.

At campaign rallies, Ma said his administration has decided to hold a groundbreaking ceremony to start the construction work for expanding the railroad and the electrification of train service in Hualien early next month to improve the public transport service in eastern Taiwan.

Legislator Fu, who is running as an independent, has been advocating the construction of the controversial Suao-Hualien freeway, a project backed by many residents.

Ma and other KMT leaders went to Hsinchu Saturday to campaign for Hsinchu County magistrate candidate Chiu Ching-chun, who is faced with vigorous contests from both DPP candidate and a KMT rebel who was expelled.

The DPP controls only three of the 17 counties and cities up for grabs but hopes to capitalize on public dissatisfaction with the Ma administration, including the prolonged economic sluggishness, high unemployment rate, floods in southern Taiwan in August, and the new controversy over the government's consent on easing the imports of U.S. beef products.

Frank Hsieh, former premier and DPP chairman, forecast his party will be able to expand its seats of counties and cities to seven from current three.

Hsieh said the DPP will be able to retain the seats of Yunlin, Chiayi and Pingtung counties plus a good chance to retake Yilan County from the KMT and hold at least a 50 percent chance to win over three other counties and cities.

He said President Ma should focus on solving the “beef problem” instead of keeping himself busy with election campaigns.

The DPP has skillfully turned the beef trade into a major election issue in time by calling for an outright ban on imports of American ground beef, internal organs, and other parts to safeguard local consumers from threats of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), commonly known as mad cow disease.

The party is also working with civic groups to call for reopening beef trade talks with the U.S. and to rally for a nationwide referendum on the issue.